


You.

by bloodiedsword



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, JanuRWBY, One Shot, mentions of yang and the boys, sorry in advance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28562103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodiedsword/pseuds/bloodiedsword
Summary: “Weiss,” She began. With a jump, the small girl looked at the partner in question.“You’ve always wanted to be the team leader, right?”A fic where Ruby resigns from being the team leader.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 6
Kudos: 96





	You.

**Author's Note:**

> just want to say that this is entirely written before the continuation of v8 (so during the midseason hiatus) and that it is entirely based off of a theory of ruby resigning. This will most likely not be canon in the actual show when they return from the hiatus, so just take this as some sort of AU! This is also a piece for day 4 of JanuRWBY (favorite ship), enjoy reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated!

_ "When the world is in ashes and the sun never rises above the thin line of earth, that, is when  _ you _ must be the strongest.” _

Those were the words that  Taiyang had said to Ruby before she left for Beacon.

“I'm done.” Ruby said, looking out of the Schnee manors window.

It was an estimate 3 in the morning when Ruby spoke. Her words colder than normal, like venom seeping from the inner workings of her soul out into the open.

It was only Ruby, Weiss and Blake in the room at the time. Yang wasn’t there. Instead, for the past 7 hours, she was out with Jaune, Ren, and Oscar. By the looks of it, the team knew that neither she, nor the boys were in a safe condition.

“Ruby what do you me-”

“I said I'm done Blake.”

The room fell silent. Weiss and Blake both looking at one another, then back at their leader in confusion. What she said next, was something they wouldn’t have thought of at the time.

“I'm done being the team leader.”

“This isn’t the time to make jokes Ru-”

“I'm not joking Weiss!” Ruby said a bit more harshly. Weiss, stumbling back at the sudden hostility.

With a sigh, she turned only slightly. The image, Weiss thought, resembling General Ironwood before he fell into madness.

“I've failed. Don't you understand? The Grimm, the crater, Ironwood, the Ace Ops? It's all too much. Not to mention Penny quite literally is covered in blood, and Nora  _ still _ hasn’t woken up… it's all because of me. I was stupid to think that I was doing the right thing.”

It was if the work of the apathy had fallen upon the younger girl. Face blank, eyes lost of the light they once shone. Instead of being a bright silver, they only shone a dark grey, which only darkened black like the lake of Grimm outside.

“Rubes, you don’t have to do this…” Blake spoke up once more, walking over to the girl and putting her hand on her shoulder. “We can all help, you’re not alone in this.”

“Blakes right.” Weiss added on, though, unable to move to comfort her partner.

Ruby only stared out into the open.

“Weiss,” She began. With a jump, the small girl looked at the partner in question.

“You’ve always wanted to be the team leader, right?”

That was the last thing Ruby had said before she left the room. Blake and Weiss looked down at their hands while the clanking of Ruby's shoe buckles faded.

As Blake moved over to look at Penny, Weiss still stood in the same spot. Only being able to think about the way Ruby’s eyes shone only of pain, and anger, and maybe even regret.

It was the last thing anyone had said for the night.

* * *

Weiss  _ had _ always wanted to become the team leader.

Ever since she was little, Winter trained her to be the best she possibly could be. Through blood, sweat, and many many tears, she finally was able to land a spot at Beacon academy (not that it was hard of course), The supposed school for huntsman and huntresses in training. At least, that's what Winter had told her.

“You know Weiss, you could have easily been able to gain a spot at Atlas academy. Ironwood may even take you in as one of his own, if you’re lucky.”

“I suppose. But if I have the opportunity to get away from home, I'm taking the chance and never looking back. Just like you.”

They were both standing outside in the mansions courtyard, weary from the training they had finished a few seconds ago. Winter standing up straight and looking down at Weiss, who was pulling herself from the ground, slightly bruised from the hits of Winter’s summons.

Winter chuckled at the reply, “Perhaps I did. Though I will say that staying away from the house on certain occasions has been extremely beneficial, I can only hope that your time at Beacon is the same.”

“Oh I'm sure. I am going to be the leader of my team anyways.” Weiss said, scoffing at how it wasn’t obvious to her elder sister.

And to even more of the younger girls' surprise, Winter looked back at her, eyes slightly sparkling with humor and her right eyebrow raised in question. Her smile, almost failing to not make an appearance.

“Is that so?”

“... It is. Are you doubting me?”

And just as quickly as Winter could summon a swarm of beowolves, she turned, back facing her sister, and shook her head.

“No no, of course not.”

Weiss could hear the glint of laughter in her statement. She decided not to push further, knowing that she would most likely be laughed at and maybe even scolded by said girl, but before she could even change the subject, Winter called out to her.

“Weiss?” She said, walking back towards the Schnee Manor, hands folded behind her back like always.

“Yes Winter?”

“Sometimes, things don’t always go as planned, you are aware of this, no?”

It was now Weiss’ turn to raise her eyebrow, but not because she thought that Winters' question was hilarious.

“Things happen for the better Weiss, remember this.”

Weiss sighed at the past memory.

She didn’t know it at the time, but Winter quite literally (even if she didn’t know it at the time) predicted how her time at Beacon academy went. From her meeting her teammates, to her realizing that the red coated girl was “destined” to be their leader. Though Weiss didn’t think that Winter could ever predict the terror that was currently happening to their home.

And being the new team leader didn’t help in the slightest.

Weiss always knew that leading a team of people, especially for years and years wouldn’t be the easiest. But there was just  _ so much _ that Weiss hadn’t planned for or even thought that she had to know in order to be a team leader. It felt like there was a constant weight on her shoulders to not only protect. but also as if every choice she had to make would result in life or death. The target painted on her back, suddenly so  _ open _ to her enemies eyes. Her anxiety skyrocketing, her mind struggling to grasp every concept of despair happening before their very eyes, like it was her fault.

In that moment, she thought to herself: “Was this how Ruby always felt?”

It wouldn’t take her by surprise if that was the case. She could tell that whenever they were in battle, she was always on edge. Especially after the fall of Beacon. Seeing Ruby so much older, so much more mature, so much more  _ tired _ , it hurt Weiss' heart.

And just as if she finally started glowing again, finally started to gain back that  _ warmth  _ that Weiss oh so dearly loved, everything came crashing down, and the flame went out.

She wishes she could do something. She wishes that Ruby would have told her, why didn’t she? Were they not partners? Questions began to stir in Weiss' head once more, and they didn’t stop until she heard the soft but sharp gasp from Blake who stood right besides her.

Weiss shook her head at the thought, now wasn’t the time to wander off in thoughts, even if prod from the deepest depths of her mind. Right now, Weiss had to go out there and look for Ruby and Yang.

“Blake, I need you to stay here with Nora and Penny. You have your scroll right?”

Blake nodded quickly, her focus directed towards Penny, who was still leaking (blood?), and seemed to rapidly be losing consciousness by the second.

With a nod back, she quickly grabbed her scroll and Myrtenaster and started heading out of her bedroom.

“Where are you going?” Blake asked, a question filled with worry.

“What any team leader would do in this situation. Get her teammates and the citizens to safety.”

With that, Weiss left the room, heart running faster than Ruby could ever run.

* * *

“RUBY!” Weiss yelled, running towards her partner, who was hanging on weakly to the edge of Atlas, her body practically hanging.

With all of the strength the icy girl could muster, she reached for both of her teammates' hands and pulled, slowly but surely bringing her back up onto the floating rock. Her head pounded and the open wounds she had all over her burned, but she couldn’t find it in her to care. Looking back at Ruby, she knew she was in a way worse condition that herself, both physically, and emotionally.

There were open cuts and scars all over her body, blood spilled from her mouth and from her head, she was dirty and beaten up, the poor girl was even shaking,

And it all happened in an attempt to protect Weiss.

The scene replayed in flashes as Weiss picked up Ruby’s body and limped to a safer area, screaming for help as soon as she saw Yang and Blake running towards the pair. Ruby was tossed around by Cinder while Weiss tried her best to get back up.

“You won't take her from me, not again!” Ruby had practically spat in the older woman's face, most likely in reference to the time Weiss was stabbed by said woman.

The last thing Weiss could remember in that moment was the look her and Ruby shared, and the way she could see tears of light falling from her eyes.

* * *

Neither of them knew when to speak up.

They were sitting in Weiss bedroom once more, Ruby now occupying the space that Nora had once been in. She was still in a bad condition, but surprisingly her body was still able to sit up properly. Of course, it was all thanks to Klein's proper work (and Weiss not so subtly ushering him to do everything to make sure she could heal well).

The air was filled with, not an uncomfortable, but a thick silence. Of course, with only a small look at one another, it was as if they could read one another's minds, their partners thoughts, emotions, it felt familiar. They both smiled at the realization.

With a small sigh from both of the girls, the spoke in unison:

“Weiss-”

“Ruby-”

They looked at one another, laughing softly at how in sync they were in such a tense moment.

“You can go ahead,” Weiss said.

Ruby shifted under the covers a bit, seeming as if she wanted to get more comfortable before she told the girl everything.

Weiss of course noticed this, and reached out to Ruby to hold her hands.

“It's okay Ruby, you can talk to me, I'm here.” 

And with that, the younger girl broke.

Weiss held her close as she spilled her heart out. She could tell that Ruby had needed it. All of that pent up emotion, trauma, and guilt from not only Beacon, but from Atlas, from Haven, finally being lifted by the universes hands and blown off of the roads of the floating rock they were perched on.

On top of that, Weiss had let out everything as well. About Ironwood, about her Father and her Mother, Winter and Whitley, her home being destroyed,

By the end of it, when they calmed down from the multiple tears shed, they held one another, feeling one another's heartbeats and listening to one another's breathing soften.

As if the moment couldn’t have gotten any better, Ruby spoke up once more. “I love you Weiss.”

Now that wasn’t expected.

Weiss’ breath hitched, she slowly rose from the girls chest and looked at her in surprise, a blush, just as red as the tips of her partners hair appearing on both of their faces.

“I know that might be sudden, and maybe it might be the wrong time to have said it, but you’ve been my partner for so long and we’ve gone through so much, the little things you do, the way you hold yourself and how kind you are to not only the people who need it, but to your loved ones… and how you always strive to be a better person.. you don't understand the relief I felt when I saw you in Mistral… ”

Ruby was the childhood Weiss had never obtained. She was the one to have kickstarted the fire that burned through her, to become better, to make a better name for herself, to be the best she could be, and though opposites, they were still similar in ways that no one but only them could understand.

Maybe Winter was right about things happening for a reason.

Weiss could only look Ruby softly into her eyes and lean in, cutting her off and kissing her softly.

Ruby tensed before relaxing into the kiss, sighing softly and bringing her hand to Weiss face to slightly deepen the kiss.

Releasing slowly, Weiss leaned into the touch and closed her eyes,

“I love you too Ruby.”

When Weiss opened her eyes again, she saw for the first time in a very long time, the true smile of Ruby Rose.

Though the life she once felt from Ruby wasn’t the same, she knew it would come back eventually. She knew that not only her spilling out her emotions, but the fall of Atlas as a whole, would curate her into a person more stronger than Remnant has ever seen. Salem would face her demise one day, sooner than she realizes. And when the final battle happens, Team RWBY, Weiss and Ruby, will be there together. Just like the first days of initiation back at Beacon academy.


End file.
